A principal in Los Angeles, Calif. is reinstating senior privileges she revoked from her students for opting-out of standardized testing after threats from a legal defense organization.

After complaints from both students and parents to the Pacific Justice Institute, a conservative legal defense organization, Calabasas High School's principal C.J. Foss has given seniors back the privileges to use the school parking lots and take part in senior class activities.

Foss had revoked the privileges a week prior in an e-mail due to her disappointment with turnout for Common Core tests.

Once contacted, the Pacific Justice Institute immediately sent a letter to Foss threatening her to change her decision before legal action was taken.

"President of Pacific Justice Institute, Brad Dacus, declared that, 'A principal absolutely cannot punish students because their parents exercised their legal rights. We have now seen a number of educrats pretend as though these opt-out rights do not exist, but this is a new low,'" according to the DailyCaller.com.

Foss' frustration is in response to about 75% of the school's junior class opting out of the controversial new set of standardized tests. After being contacted by the Institute, she reversed her intended punishment.

In an interview with FoxNews, according to the Daily Caller, Foss said she was frustrated that she wasn't able to communicate with parents the importance of their children taking the exams.

“'In the past, we have required participation in the test for various activities. However, after talking with the students and staff, I realized that before the test this year we did not communicate the importance of participating in the test, so we will not withhold participation in the activities,' Foss stated," according to the article.

Punishment for opting-out of Common Core exams has been a hot topic especially this year as many districts across the country experienced the highest opt-out numbers to date.

Earlier this year, similar controversy was raised in one New York school after middle-school students whose parents opted them out of exams were denied the school's end-of-the-year ice cream party. 

Read the full article here and comment below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

06/26/2015